He was given 10 years for four counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four years for causing serious injury by dangerous driving. His sentences will run concurrently. Kroker has also been disqualified from driving.

When passing the sentence Judge Maura McGowan said the driver was paying such poor attention to the road that "he might as well have had his eyes closed".

The aftermath of the crash on the A34

She added: "There are a number of aggravating features in this case. There was clearly a gross and avoidable distraction, whether it was by using the phone or not looking up, it was clear the defendant didn't see the slowing vehicles in front of him."

The judge also highlighted the fact Kroker had signed a declaration form which states "I will never use a hand-held mobile or hands free kit while driving" around an hour before the crash.

Tomasz Kroker, who was jailed for causing death by dangerous driving

Dash cam footage played during the hearing, showed the driver looking down at his phone, which was in his left hand, for around seven seconds while he was driving along the dual carriageway.

But less than a second before the crash he looked up, grabbed the steering wheel in panic and braced as his lorry crashed into the vehicles in front. He failed to apply the brakes.

One man was airlifted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford with serious injuries after the crash, while another man and a teenage boy were taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital with minor injuries. They have since been discharged.

Nine other people were assessed and treated by paramedics at the scene.

At the hearing Kroker's defence lawyer James Rozier admitted: "The harm that has been caused in this case is unfathomable."